Description:

This paper is a short documentation on manic depression and its effect on the life of an individual suffering from the disorder. The paper's specific case study references the case of Virginia Woolf, a 20th century author. The paper explains that the symptoms of bipolar disorder, or manic depression, are clearly tied to genetics, though it is still uncertain just how deeply. However, the paper adds, the environmental factors of the individual are more strongly believed to be the deciding factor if someone with the potentiality will become bipolar. The paper concludes that emotional states brought on by the disorder skew cognitive functioning, which results in drastic changes in behavior, and allows the disorder to be studied and diagnosed.

From the Paper:

"It is hypothesized that structural abnormalities of neural pathways could be the underlying cause of bipolar disorder, and studies on this basis have discovered minor anatomical differences in the amygdale, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. Despite this discovery, there are still conflicting beliefs on the strength of this hypothesis (Sagman & Tohen, 2009)."